All Hail Megatron issue 12

	; Unlike issue 1, this sorta happened.
Publisher	IDW Publishing
First published	June 24, 2009
Cover date	June 2009
Written by	Shane McCarthy
Art by	Guido Guidi
Colors by	James Brown and Josh Burcham
Letters by	Chris Mowry
Edits by	Andy Schmidt and Denton J. Tipton
Continuity	2005 IDW continuity
Chronology	All Hail Megatron

There's a nuclear bomb coming to blow up a city as Prime and Megatron trade blows and viewpoints, and somebody has to fly up and stop it! Haven't we been here before?

Synopsis

In New York City, the Autobots and Decepticons continue to battle. Sideswipe swats Kickback with a broken street light, wanting to avenge Sunstreaker's death. Suddenly, Bombshell surprises him and reveals that he was the one responsible for Sunstreaker's actions by toying with the mind of his former Headmaster partner, Hunter O'Nion. Before Bombshell can kill Sideswipe, though, Kup punches him in the face. However, he, too, gets taken by surprise by Skywarp. Skywarp is incredulous about Kup's presence, since he had heard that Kup had gone crazy. Kup, insulted by Skywarp's "scrap heap" joke, fires at his chest, and falls near the Statue of Liberty, where Omega Supreme and Devastator struggle. Devastator claims that nothing can stop him, but Omega proves otherwise by blasting straight through his chest (along with Lady Liberty), and Devastator falls into the ocean.

At Central Park, Sparkplug Witwicky, Colonel Hawke, and the remaining army troops fire at Dropshot, but without success. Sparkplug orders Hawke to leave, with the European Union plane (secretly the Decepticon Tankor) heading its way to drop the nuke at the city. Hawke protests, but Sparkplug persists, saying that he might lose his son, and that he doesn't want any of his men to join him. Meanwhile, Spike and his "team" make it to the rooftop of a building and stay low, witnessing two of the large robots begin their duel. Armed with the secret weapon he stole, Spike decides to target the silver one. Bridge asks Spike if the other one is on their side, and Spike replies that he hopes so, considering how big it is.

Optimus Prime and Megatron continue to grapple, Megatron relentlessly questioning Prime on why he cares about the humans after they've tortured an Autobot and put plans in motion to kill millions of their own people in a nuclear strike against the Transformers. Prime retorts that it's not only about protecting the humans; it's about also about the difference between himself and Megatron – what makes one a Decepticon and one an Autobot.

In Central Park, Sparkplug fires a bazooka at Dropshot, who briefly staggers. Enraged and hurt, Dropshot declares that after having been stuck spying on the humans for so long, there's nothing that can stop him from tearing them all apart now. But in a silent, ironic counterpoint, Kup emerges from the water behind him.

Meanwhile, Prime and Megatron continue to exchange blows, but Megatron gets the upper hand by head-butting Prime and throwing him into a building. Megatron stands over Prime and tells him he respects him for his continued struggle. Nevertheless, Megatron orders Tankor to proceed with the bombing, and Tankor, shedding his European Union disguise, obliges. Bridge tells Spike to shoot fast, but Spike can only wait for it to charge up. Megatron orders the Decepticons to leave, but Blitzwing bemoans the loss of the space bridge and the city. Megatron replies that the Decepticons have other planets, and starting again is a price worth paying for the death of the Autobots alongside the humans. Bridge warns Spike that the Decepticons are about to flee, and Spike at last pulls the trigger.

Just as Megatron is telling Prime that he's going to take the Matrix with him, the blast from Spike's gun hits him square in the face. Seizing the opportunity, Prime grabs Megatron's fusion cannon off the ground and smashes it hard against Megatron's head. Megatron, crackling with electricity, falls to the ground, defeated and broken. The Autobots begin to celebrate, but as Optimus advances towards Megatron, a voice stops him; it's Starscream! Optimus asks him what he's doing, and Starscream replies that he is fulfilling his role as a Seeker by "protecting the leader of the Decepticon Empire." Prime tells Starscream that this isn't like him; he could leave Megatron and assume leadership of the Decepticons himself. But Starscream, repeating what Megatron had told him, says that leadership must be taken, not magically given by chance, which Prime would never understand.

Optimus asks Starscream if he's running, to which he replies that he's merely done playing. He claims the Decepticons outnumber the Autobots across the galaxy, the Autobot army is in tatters, and the Decepticons are victorious. Prolonging the battle would gain them nothing, and the Autobots wouldn't waste their time pursuing them when there's a nuclear bomb on the way. As the Decepticons lift off, the Autobots ponder how to stop the bomb. They realize that someone needs to fly up to it, and they're shocked to hear Thundercracker volunteer.

Thundercracker declares that none of the Autobots can fly in robot mode, and when Optimus brings up Omega Supreme, Thundercracker dismisses him as lacking the necessary finesse. Ironhide asks why a Decepticon would help, and Thundercracker explains that there is no honor in the bomb. Drift, a former Decepticon, tries to welcome Thundercracker into the Autobot ranks, but Thundercracker swats his offered hand aside, refusing to speak to a traitor. Thundercracker says that the humans were unworthy adversaries, that the Decepticons are creatures of combat, not slaughter, and that all of their actions on Earth have been dishonorable. With that, Thundercracker takes off and grabs the nuclear weapon as it falls, then flies it into space and fires at it, detonating it safely.

"How dare you behave according to your bio!"

The Autobots finally celebrate their victory, and Hound introduces Prime to the mystery sniper, Spike Witwicky. Prime praises Spike's remarkable skills, but Spike passes the credit to his "remarkable weapon." In Central Park, Sparkplug and Kup have a chat about outer space and Kup's "cigar" while sitting on the fallen body of Dropshot. Meanwhile, Thundercracker is en route to join the Decepticons when Skywarp teleports behind him and accuses him of betrayal. Thundercracker tries to tell Skywarp that Megatron had lost his way, but the furious Skywarp shoots him point-blank in the face.

Optimus Prime tells Spike that his people are free, but they must rebuild and recover. He says that the humans will need leaders like Spike and his comrades, heroes they can turn to in desperate times. The Autobots had traveled from their homeworld of Cybertron to free the humans from the Decepticons' tyranny, and Prime offers whatever help he and the Autobots can give. Spike, while professing appreciation, says that he doesn't think humanity is going to accept them, given that the Transformers had brought their own war to Earth. As Spike declares the impossibility of a "union" between humans and Autobots, Sideswipe puts deed to word in Bombshell's lab: Stricken with horror at the sight of Hunter O'Nion's ravaged physical state, Sideswipe turns off the machines supporting his tortured life.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans
Sideswipe (1) Kup (4) Omega Supreme (6) Optimus Prime (15) Ironhide (21) Jazz (22) Bumblebee (23) Cliffjumper (29) Drift (30) Prowl (31) Roadbuster (32) Ratchet (33) Hound (34)	Kickback (2) Bombshell (3) Skywarp (5) Devastator (7) Dropshot (8) Megatron (16) Tankor (17) Blitzwing (18) Starscream (19) Thundercracker (20) Spectro (?) (24) Soundwave (25) Astrotrain (26) Shrapnel (27) Laserbeak (28)	Daniel Witwicky (9) Hawke (10) Bridge (11) Spike Witwicky (12) Sarah (13) Charles (14) Hunter O'Nion (35)

Quotes

"Word is you went crazy. Figured you'd be in the scrap heap by now, Kup."

—Skywarp read "Spotlight: Kup" just like the rest of us.

"No! You will not defeat Devastator! You are nothing!"
"Wrong. I am Omega Supreme!"

—Devastator and Omega Supreme's final exchange, wherein Omega continues to push his Transformer equivalent of "I'm Batman."

"Leadership of the Decepticons must be taken, Prime. Not magically offered up by chance. Something your kind will never understand."

—Starscream disses the Matrix while also stealing it.

"Brother. I'm glad you have seen the way, your choice is—"
"Do not speak to me. I'm no traitor to my kind."

—Drift gets no love from Thundercracker, either.

"So what's with the cigar?"
"What's a 'cigar'?"

—Sparkplug and Kup talk about Kup's "sparkplug," appropriately enough.

Notes

Continuity notes

While it has been obliquely hinted at before, Kup's brush with insanity is finally acknowledged directly, though not in a way that actually addresses the disconnect.
Octane, like his Universe toy, now goes by the name of Tankor. Poor guy.
Ironhide is particularly incredulous at Thundercracker's offer to save New York from the bomb. While it's unlikely it was a deliberate callback to this issue, a few years after its publication, Autocracy #7 would show that the Seeker had butted heads with Ironhide in the past.

Errors

In the description of the Coda issues, #16 has Bumblebee's story as a second "Story 1" rather than "Story 2". Also, Guido Guidi is misspelled as "Guido Guido". Ok, we get it, he's Italian!
When Prime talks to Spike on page 21, he's probably supposed to start with "Your people are free," not "Our people".
When Bombshell re-appears after being punched out by Kup, the damage to his face is missing.

Trivia

The Decepticomments section describes the Coda issues and provides art from some of the covers.

Covers (3)

Cover A: A "reverse" of issue 1's cover, with Prime holding a waving American flag and Megatron's fusion cannon; art by Casey Coller with colors by Joana Lafuente.
Cover B: Prime versus Megatron; art and colors by Trevor Hutchison.
Apocalypse Comics Exclusive Cover: Homage to Amazing Spider-Man #50, with Megatron in place of Spidey; art by Casey Coller with colors by Joana Lafuente.